Saving Money the Stinky Way

Hey, Tiff here! As the momma of our growing family, I have the responsibility of being frugal with the money God has blessed us with. It’s a duty that isn’t always fun, but one that I accept with gladness. I know that my decisions affect my whole family, not only in the now, but in the future as well. Here is a story of the beginnings of my ‘learning to be frugal adventure‘. While I was still pregnant with our little Lydia (our first child), I ventured into Cotton Babies out of pure curiosity (I managed to get my hubby to go with me). I didn’t really know what kind of store it was, just that they sold baby products. A first time momma + a baby store = trouble! Upon entering Cotton Babies, I realized this wasn’t your ordinary baby store…it was mostly a cloth diaper store. I had heard of cloth diapers, but only the kind that great grandma used. I was in awe of all of the different styles of cloth diapers, not to mention all the cute colors and prints! After browsing around…and around…and around, and talking with the ladies who worked there, Dave and I realized that cloth diapering might actually be an option for us. While my mind was still buzzing with thoughts of diaper sprayers, diaper pails, and wet bags, we went home and did our own research to see if this decision could really save us money. Our investigation led us to the final decision…WE WERE GOING TO CLOTH DIAPER…AHHHH! Next time I went to Cotton Babies, I made one of the biggest purchases of our married life…diapers! We ended up spending around $450 if I remember right. We got 24 diapers with inserts, a wet bag, diaper pail, and diaper sprayer. It doesn’t sound like much bang for your buck, but when you think about the fact that you will spend about $2,500 in disposable diapers during a baby’s diaper career (if potty trained by 2.5 years), it puts things in perspective. For us, an added bonus is that we have been able to use most of the diapers we purchased for our first child, for our second as well…ChaChing!!! While spraying out poopy diapers isn’t my favorite mommy job, I know I am helping to contribute to our family by saving us money. J I just want to say, even though cloth diapering has worked out wonderfully for our family, it isn’t for everyone. Every family has to take into consideration their own situation and go from there! So kudos to the cloth diaper momma and kudos to the disposable diaper momma. I can’t wait to go diaper shopping for baby Charlotte…they have way too many cute prints out now! Stay tuned for my next entry on homemade cloth wipes and DIY wipe solution!